o 


MEM  /RIAL 


A  STATE  UNIVERSITY.' 


LOUISIANA  STATE  UNIVERSITY 


-AND- 


Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College, 


To  the  Honorable  the  President  and  Members  of  the 

Constitutional  Convention  of  the  State  of  fcoui&id'ha: 

Gentlemen — There  has  been  so  much  error  and  mis- 
representation, in  regard  to  the  ordinance  introduced 
by  Mr.  George,  of  Webster,  concerning 

•A  STATE  UNIVERSITY,'' 

that  I  would  respectfully  beg  leave  to  make  the  following 
statement: 

The  ordinance  proposes  to  unite  the  Law  and  Medical 
Departments  of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  in  New 
Orleans,  and  this  Academic  Institution,  at  Baton  Rouge, 
into  one  State  University — under  one  charter — without 
any  change  in  the  present  location  of  these  Depart- 
ments, or  any  essential  change  in  their  present  organ- 
ization. 

The  object  is: 

1.  To  secure  for  Louisiana  a  complete  university, 
instead  of  having,  as  now,  two  incomplete,  or  fragments 

of,  universities. 


2 

2.  To  relieve  Louisian  i  legislation  of  the  charge,  to 
which  it  is  now  amenabl  \  of  not  comprehending  what 
a  university  is. 

3.  There  is  no  wish,  or  intention,  to  remove  the 
present  Academical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Louisiana  from  New  Orleans  to  Baton  Rouge.  Any 
assertion  to  the  contrary  is  purely  gratuitous. 

There  is,  indeed,  nothing  to  remove  but  the  persons 
of  the  professors;  and  tin  not  needed,  for  other 

professors  are  already  here  at  Baton  Rouge  doing 
identically  the  same  work,  and  more  besides.  This 
institution  is  a  literary  school,  as  well  as  a  scientific  one. 

But,  useless  for  State  purposes,  let  the  Academical 
Department  in  New  Orleans  no  longer  be  considered  a 
State  College.  It  can  be  very  useful,  however,  as  a  City 
College;  and  such  let  it  be  converted  into,  to  be  sup- 
ported out  of  the  public  school  fund,  and  controlled  by 
the  public  school  authorities.  It  has  no  endowment 
fund,  and  the  State  of  Louisiana  is  now  too  poor  to  sup- 
port it.  Let  it  simply  be  transferred  from  the  list  of 
University  Institutions  to  Public  School  Institutions. 

4.  To  keep  the  Academical  Department  in  New  Orleans 
from  being  everlastingly  in  the  way  of  forming  a  correct 
system  of  university-education  in  Louisiana. 

Like  some  of  our  Louisiana  railroads,  dead  or  dying, 
it  is  of  no  use  but  to  be  In  the  way  of  some  other  enter- 
prise that  might  do  good,  were  it  out  of  the  way.  It 
lives,  at  least,  on  paper,  and  has  its  chartered  privileges 


3 

and  vested  rights.  And  though  all  signs  of  life  be  gone, 
and  it  forgotten  long  years  together,  yon  have  only  to 
propose  to  establish  a  State  University  on  a  proper 
footing,  to  see  the  old  skeleton  appear  and  hear  its  dry 
bones  begin  to  rattle. 

The  advantages  are : 

1.  To  concentrate  the  State's  resources  upon  one 
University,  to  make  sure  of  its  success — have  one  good 
school ;  instead  of  dividing  the  State's  resources 
for  higher  education  between  two  Universities — to  have 
one,  or  both,  eventually  fail,  or,  at  best,  be  two  poor* 
schools. 

2.  To  keep  at  home — have  educated  in  Louisiana, 
through  the  influence  of  a  first-rate  University — the 
hundreds  of  Louisiana  youths  who  now  go  to  other 
States  and  countries  for  an  education. 

The  money  thus  kept  in  Louisiana,  and  spent  among 
our  own  people  would  be  enormous. 

3.  To  prevent  the  Academic  Department  in  New 
Orleans  from  being  considered  the  City  University,  and 
this  Academic  Department  at  Baton  Rouge  the  Country 
University,  with  the  prejudice  and  antipathy  that 
would  inevitably  ensue,  and  the  serious  injury  to  both. 

4.  To  give  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 
in  Newr  Orleans  sufficient  room  for  its  necessary  pur- 
poses. A  portion  of  its  building,  as  assigned  it  by  law, 
is  now  occupied  by  the  Academic  Department. 


8,  To  infuse  new  life  ;u  d  spiril  into  bhe  La\?  Depart- 

nieut  in  New  Orleans,  win  h  for  want  of  proper  interest 
felt  and  taken  in  it,  for  w  ant  of  proper  sympathy  and 
support,  is  now  <lroopiuy.  It  closed  its  recent  session 
with  only  twelve  (12)  stud  mts. 

(>.  To  centre  the  affections  and  love  of  the  who-le 
people  of  Louisiana  on  one  State  institution  of  learn- 
ing; to  make  the  people  of  the  whole  State  (city  and 
country)  feel  that  the  Law  and  Medical  Departments  in 
New  Orleans,  and  the  Academic  Department  at  Baton 
Rouge,  are  theirs,  belonging  to  and  representing  Lonsi- 
axa,  and  not,  as  now,  the  two  former  to  the  city  and  the 
latter  to  the  country. 

This  feeling  in  common,  or  universality  of  senti- 
ment— with  the  sympathy  and  support  it  would  engen- 
der— would  alone,  without  a  dollar  from  the  State,  huild 
up  a  State  school;  and  without  the  affection  and  love 
of  the  people,  of  the  whole  people  of  Louisiana,  all 
efforts  of  the  State  to  found  a  university  are  vain. 

The  sentiment  of  the  people  breathed  into  it,  the 
State  University  is  a  living  soul :  without  that  sentiment, 
though  endowed  with  all  the  wealth  of  Croesus,  it  is 
but  a  lifeless  body. 

7.  To  he  an  active  principle  in  unifying  the  people  of 
Louisiana,  educating  together  youths  from  city  and 
country,  having  them  grow  up  together,  knowing  one 
another  and  loving  one  another:  doing  away  with  local 
prejudice  .  country  against  city,  and  city  against  conn- 


try,  now  so  hurtful   to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole 
people. 

So  strong  is  this  prejudice,  the  country  holding  the 
balance  of  power,  thai  one  of  the  great  political  parties 
of  our  State  has  not  consented,  for  forty  //ears  and  riiore, 
to  selecl  Its  candidate  for  the  high  office  of  Governor, 
from  amongst  all  the  admitted  talent,  and  ability,  and 
worth  of  the  great  City  of  New  Orleans.  Surely,  it  is 
time  for  such  folly  to  stop. 

8.  State-love  and  State-pride  will  grow  and  intensify 
under  the  influence  of  a  strong  and  respectable  State 
University,  complete  in  all  its  departments,  and  capable 
of  affording  good  academical  and  professional  education. 

So  much  for  University  education  for  the  State. 

To  accommodate  such  of  the  bright  youths  of  New 
Orlean%,  as  may  be  attending  the  present  Academical  De- 
partment of  the  University  of  Louisiana  and  the  High 
School  in  that  city,  and  who  may  not  have  the  means  to 
attend  the  State  University  here — say,  twenty  per  cent,  of 
those  now  pursuing  collegiate  or  academic  studies  there, 
let  there  be  established  out  of  those  twro  institutions  (the 
present  Academic  Department  of  the  University  of 
Louisiana  in  New  Orleans  and  the  High  School  of  that 
city) 

"A  CITY  COLLEGE  - 

of  high  grade,  with  tuition  free,  to  be  supported 
out  of  the  public  school  fund,  or  the  general  fund,  and 
managed  by  the  public  school  authorities. 


6 

Thus,  no  youth  in  New  Orleans  would  be  deprived 
of  a  single  academic  facility  he  now  enjoys;  and  every 
youth  in  the  State,  capable  of  receiving  it,  be  he  rich 
or  be  he  poor,  would  have  every  advantage  of  a 
collegiate-  education,  tuition  free,  that  Louisiana  could 
give  him,  through  the  New  Orleans  City  College  and 
the  Louisiana  State  University. 

Such  are  some  of  the  main  reasons  on  which  is  based 
Mr.  George's  ordinance  concerning  "A  State  Universi- 
ty ; "  and  such  some  of  the  chief  considerations  connect- 
ed with  it.  It  may  be  well  to  dwell  on  them  somewhat 
at  length. 

The  public  institutions  of  our  State  ought  to  be 
located  where  the  public  interests  would  be  best  sub- 
served, where  the  general  public  of  Louisiana  would  wish 
them  to  be.  And  the  several  departments  of  th^  State 
University  ought,  each,  to  be  located  at  the  most  suit- 
able point  for  its  own  specific  work. 

No  one  would  think  of  locating  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment elsewhere  than  in  New  Orleans.  Few  think 
differently  about  the  location  of  the  Law  Department. 
And  the  best  proof  that  New  Orleans  is  not  the  place 
for  the  Academic  Department,  is,  that  while  the  Law 
and  Medical  Departments  have,  in  general,  prospered 
in  New  Orleans,  the  Academic  Department  there,  has 
in  general  failed. 

From  1860  to  1878,  the  Academic  Department 
of  the    University   of  Louisiana    (in    New    Orleans) 


7 

had  no  existence  whatever;  and  before  1860  it  had 
no  existence,  if  we  are  correctly  informed,  except 
such  as  it  obtained  through  its  private  lessees^  Messrs. 
Dufau  &  Sears. 

Few  parents,  residing  out  of  New  Orleans,  would 
think  of  sending  a  son  to  college  in  New  Orleans ;  and 
not  many  residents  even  of  New  Orleans,  would  patron- 
ize a  college  located  there,  except  those  who  have  not 
the  means  of  sending  their  sons  to  college  out  of  Newr 
Orleans,  or  those  residents  who  may  use  it  for  a 
short  time  as  a  preparatory  school  for  some  other 
college. 

Three  out  of  every  four  persons  in  Louisiana  live 
out  of  New  Orleans — in  the  country  ;  and  it  is  idle  to 
expect  country  parents  to  send  their  sons  to  college  in 
that  city, 

What  means  the  heavy  outgo  of  New  Orleans  people 
every  year,  beginning  in  May  and  June,  and  their  return 
only  in  October  and  November,  if  New  Orleans  is  a 
good  place  for  continuous,  earnest  college  work  for  nine 
or  ten  months  in  the  year  ?  No ;  the  same  reason  that 
points  so  strongly  to  New  Orleans  as  the  proper  place 
for  the  Medical  Department,  warns  us  not  to  commit  the 
folly  of  locating  the  Academic  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity there.  But  for  such  students  as  poverty,  or  other 
fortuitous  circumstances,  may  prevent  leaving  New 
Orleans  for  academic  advantages,  let  us  establish  a  (My 
college  of  high  grade,  to  be  supported  out  of  the  City 


Public  School  Fund,  or  tin  General  Fund,  and  managed 
by  Hie  City  school  authorities. 

An  Academic  Departn  I  of  a  State  University,  if 
located  in  New  Orleans,  i  in  never  be,  in  fact,  a  Stale 
college.  It  can  never  be  really  other  than  a  local  city 
college.     Then  lei    the  one  there    now  be,  in  law  and 

name,  what  virtually  il  is.  a  cit//  college,  and  under  city 
control,  with  tithon  free. 

Louisiana,  in  her  poverty  and  sparseness  of  popula- 
tion, cannot  afford  to  sustain  two  State  colleges  oi  let- 
ters and  science,  one  here  and  another*  in  New  Orleans. 

Colleges  and  Universities — to  be  efficient — can  but  he 
cosily.  After  buildings  are  erected,  and  able  professors 
secured,  then   conies  the  greater  -    of  suitable 

libraries,  apparatus,  museums,  etc.  Without  these 
helps,  any  college,  however  able  its  faculty,  must  fall 
far  short  of  doing  its  proper  work.  The  Academic 
Department  of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  in  New- 
Orleans,  has.  we  believe,  little  or  nothing  off  these 
neces  tids  to  ml  instruction;  and  to  sup- 

ply them,  would  cost  the  Slate  many  thousand  dollars. 
At  Baton  Jl  beginning  has  already  been  made  in 

procuring  an  apparatus,  museum  and  library — the 
library  of  14JMM  >  volume-,  the  best  in  Louisiana,  and 
the  third  c  ibrary  in  importance  in  the  South. 

The  question  would  naturally  arise:  why  should  a 
State,  in  the  financial  dist  ss  in  which  Louisiana  finds 
herself,  go  In  the  uimeeessj  ry   expense  of  dnplicatiny  a 


0 

costly  library,  apparatus,  museum,  etc.*  to  say  nothing 
of  duplicating  costly  professorships  in  \ew  Orleans, 
when  the  Slate  College  already  established  in  Baton 
Rouge,  and  founded  on  the  United  States  grants;  has 
the  same,  and  other  chairs,  and  will  answer  all  reason- 
able purposes  of  State  Academical  Education  ? 

Louisiana  is.  we  believe,  the  only  State  in  the  Union 
which  has  placed  the  Academic  Department  of  its  §tate 
University  in  its  chief  city,  or  indeed  in  a  large  city. 
And  the  past  experience  of  Louisiana  in  this  regard 
would  not  warrant  the  present  State  Convention  in 
continuing-  or  attempting  to  maintain  such  Academic 
Department  of  the  University  in  New  Orleans  in  the 
future. 

hi  some  of  the  large  cities  of  our  country,  colleges 
hate  been  founded  and  located  by  private  or  sectarian 
agencies.  Notably,  the  Columbia  College  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  the  wealthiest  college  in  the  United 
States.  Yet  its  able  President,  Dr.  F.  A.  P.  Barnard, 
well  known  in  our  Southwest  as  the  former  President 
of  the  University  of  Mississippi,  in  an  able  paper  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  1870,  recommended  the  removal 
of  that  college  to  some  location  in  the  country,  because 
the  college,  with  all  its  wealth— say  $20,000,000  of 
endowment — and  with  all  its  powerful  patrons  and 
friends,  could  never  attain  to  the  full  measure  of  its 
usefulness  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Vanderhilt  gave  the  university  that  bears  his  name 


10 

to  Nashville,  auo  Johns  Hopkins  d  d  the  same  (of  IJalti- 
niore  :    the  Slate-  of  Ten  in  ssee  an<    Maryland,    lowevrr. 
loealhu.'  Uw.lv  Staff  Institutions,  or  OQllegies  respectively. 
in  the  smaller  cit'.'s  of  Ki  oxville  a  id  Aj uiajx >l i.- .     And 
if  some  millionaire  wonld    plant   a    greal    university   in 
New  Orleans,  let  us  all  rejoice-.     Btit   let  lie  Hiati 
Louisiana  act   as   wisely  as   Maryland   and   Tennes 
have    done,    and    locate    ils   State  Academical    Coll 
elsewhere  than  in  New  Orleans. 

While  no  Stale  but  Louisiana  lias,  we  believe,  estab- 
lished any  Department  of  its  State  UniverMly  in  a  great 
city,  except  such  professifnal  departments  as  those  <»f 
Law,  Medicine,  etc.,  yet  in  all  the  principal  cities  of 
this  country,  there  is  a  High  School  or  City  Col- 
lege as  a  part  of  the  public  school  system.  And  such 
there  should  be  in  New  Orleans,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
bright  young  fellows  of  that  city,  who  would  receive. 
and  thirst  for,  high  academical  learning,  but  who  have 
not  the  means  to  go  out  of  New  Orleans  to  ohtain  it: 
and  to  all  such  p<  >oi .  but  worthy,  youths,  tuition  should  be 
tree,  and  not.  as  now,  in  the  Academical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  at  a  chai  ge  of  some 
$36  a  session. 

We  have  thus  far  spoken  mainly  of  \eademical 
Education,  but  Medical  Education  is,  perhaps,  of  more 
vital  concern  to  Louisiana. 

When  we  reflect  how  much  Hie  material  prosperity  of 
the  State,  and  especially  thai  of  New  Qrk  »ns.  depend- 


II 

on  its  healthfullness,  we  can  hardly  under-estimate  the 

services  of  the  highly  educated  and  skilful  physician. 
And  what  is  Louisiana  doing  for  Medical  Kducatioii  ! 
Beyond  the  personal  exert  roife  of  a  tew  devoted  physi- 
cians, almost  nothing. 

(io  to  the  Medical  Departnffenl  of  the  rniversity  of 
Louisiana  in  \ew  Orleans.  ;md  the  true  lover  of  learn- 
ijil:  will  ho  surprised,  and  mortified,  at  the  too  patent 
signs  of  neglect  by  the  State.  A  museum,  good  twenty 
years  ago,  hut  nothing,  we  believe,  dorie  for  it  since  : 
no  lihrary  or  reading-room  for  the  medieal  students, 
and  the  professors  even  cramped  for  room  (space)  for 
their  necessary  purposes  of  instruction,  and  that  because 
the  Academical  Department  has  been  thrust  in  upon 
them,  and  now  occupies  a  portion  of  the  quarters 
which  the  law  designed  for  the  Medical  Department. 

Such  is,  at  present,  the  bad  condition  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  in  New 
Orleans,  and  such  the  poor  facilities  for  instruction 
which  the  State  of  Louisiana  has  extended  to  its  able 
Medical  Faculty.  It  is  our  wish  to  come  to  the  relief 
of  the  Medical  Department  by  removing  from  it  the 
intrusive  presence,  in  its  own  proper  quarters,  of  the 
Academic  Department,  which  has  no  warrant  in  law,  or 
public  necessity,  to  be  there  in  the  east  wing  of  the 
University  Building. 

The  faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  memorialized 
the  Legislature,  March  3d,   1*77.  to  remove  from  their 


2 

Iwildiiifttfre   vgricultural  and  Mechanic*    College  which 
had  ht vii  i  hfporarily  placed  in  it  in  1874.     The  m 

assigned  w  i-  that  theynee<  rd  the  W/c/H)uilding  for  th»'ir 
mcessarv  .ii  poses,  and  t  iat  the  pi  isenc«  of  the  A 
cultural  and  Mechanical  College  was  an  injustice 
injury  to  the  Medical  roll*  ie.  to  wliich  the  Legislate  e 
in  1861,  op  the  collapse  ol  the t Academical  Department, 
had  given  the  v\  hole  east  w  Lng  of  the  Uniyersity  Build- 
ing, except  two  rooms  which  should  he  devoted  to  the 
\e\v  Orleans  Academy  of  Sciences. 

The  Legislature  in  1877.  was  so  impressed  with  the 
force  of  the  memorial  of  t lie  Medical  Faculty  that  the 
act  of  1874.  e&tfrblisfaittg  an  Agricultural  and  Mechani- 
cal College  was  repealedin  so  far  as  it  affected  the  building 
or  quarters  of  the  Medical  College.  The  Agncutural 
and  Mechanical  College  was  ordered  aid,  and  the  huild- 
ing  directed  to  he  restored  to  those  whom  tic  L<  Liislature 
had  in  1874  urected  to  give  it  tempwibrilt  h  the  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  College,  viz:  to  the  Board  of 
Administrators  of  the  University  for  the  use.  of  course. 
of  the  Medical  Department.  This  was  the  intention. 
if  not  the  words,  of  the  law,^ 

The  undo  signed,  acting  in  his  official  capacity  as 
Ci  esident  <>f  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
•  I-  .  in  \o\<miher.  1877,  aclually  "  refctove  '"  said  build- 
in;,   to  the  1  niversity  of  Louisiana,  hy  formally  deliVe'r- 

i  l)  g   t  lio  kes  to  the  Dean  of   the  Medic;;     V      1 1 1 1  >  . 

'I  he  act  <  E  1877,  passed     t  the  instan  c  of  the  Medical 


13 

Faculty,  was  designed  to  "r*pbalv  the  ad  of  1874.  in 
so  far  as  il  look  from  them,  through  their  governing 
hoard  of  Administrators,  a  portion  of  their  building, 
and  to  "restore"  it  hack  to  them,  through  the  same 
administrative  agency*  The  Legislature,  whatever  its 
ultimate  object,  could  only  deal  properly  in  either  case, 
of  taking  away  or  restoring  the  building,  through  the 
corporate  authorities  of  the  University,  namely,  throng] i 
the  Board  of  Administrators. 

If  this  position  is  correct,  it  is  contrary  to  lair  for  the 
Academic  Department  of  the  University  to  occupy  any 
portion  of  the  east  (or  Medical)  wing  of  the  University 
Building.  And  as  it  is  occupying  essentially  the  same 
portion  of  the  building,  from  which  the  Legislature 
removed  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College, 
because  it  was  an  imposition  upon,  and  an  interference 
with,  the  Medical  Department;  clearly,  the  Academical 
Department  must  be  equally  in  the  way  of,  and  equally 
a  hindrance,  to  the  Medical  Department. 

The  Law  Department,  for  some  reason  or  other,  is 
not  doing  well,  only  some  twelve  students  on  the  roll 
at  the  recent  commencement.  It  has  but  little  to  call 
its  own  besides  the  brains  of  its  professors  and  its  past 
glorious  history.  xV  furniture  cart  could  carry  all  its 
materiel,  and  then  not  have  a  full  load. 

Such.  then,  is  the  status  of  the  University  of  Lou- 
isiana in  New  Orleans:  an  Academical  Department 
deatt  one  day  and  dying  the  next,  of  only  three  (&)  pro- 


willi  none  61  the  ueces-arv  appliances  for  a 
cottegv,  stud  \m  less  at  bi  for  a  Si  m  school,  a  Medi- 
cal Department  neglected  )\'  lie  !  and  as  i  lliat 
e  no'  difticn  yv  enoilgb  be  nin.iintd'.  tl  vm- 
i  c  a  1  Department  i  h  rust  in  ipon  it,  contrary  to  law.  and 
depriving  il  of  Hiq  n<  Oil]  or  space,  to  grow 
and  il  n  eiivrfl  in  :  and  a  Law  Oeparti  iei il  thai 
dmosl  b             to  have  failed  outrigM. 

Some  change  is  necessary1  in  thai  institution,  hhiic 
new  life  needed;  and  we  propose  to  make  .hat  mange, 
tfl  put    I  sitf  education   in    Louisiana  on  a  proper 

footing,  and  to  infuse  the  necessary  vitality  into  ail  its 
departmei  ts.  hy  dropping  from  its  organization  ail  that 
is  useless,  and  concentrating  our  en  .-rides  and  resour- 
ces on  only  what  is  necessary. 

The  Ac  Mimical  Departpient  in  New  Orl  -;n is    is    i. 
le<s  a-  a  :  t\te  school,  and  as  such   ran  never  pro 
but  it  can  le  turned  into  a  cif//  college   oi  high  school, 
becoming    the    crown   of    the   city    system    of    public 
schools :  ai  d  such  let  it  be  made  into. 

New  York  has  its  State  Academical  Department  at 
Ithaca,  and  \ev  vork  City  ha-  its  mil  dity  CtfHfege  (or 
Univei^ityi  art  of  its  city  p*i  i >  1  i < -  school   system. 

Maryland  has  its  State  college  at  Annapolis,  whih  Bal- 
timore has  its  oHp  i  >lle  e,  as  its  highest  city  p  ihlic 
school.  Ohio  has  its  State  college  ear  Columbus,  and 
Cincinnati  it.-  free  pubhc  city  colle.  e.  Illinois  I  as  its 
State   tniver&ilj    al    I    '!>••  ia.    Chicag  i    having    at    the 


IS 

&  me  time  its  own  city  high  school.  -  Similarly,  Michi- 
jjriin.  .Missouri,  California  and  other  Status,  have  their 
one,  qnd  only  one,  Statu  Universilv.  located  usually  in  a 
country  district  or  in  some  small  city,  while  the  large 
cities  of  those  States  have,  each,  their  oWn  city  high 
schools,  or  city  colleges,  free  to  all. 

Now.  what  does  all  Ihis  show!  Simply,  that  the 
Siates  generally  recognize  a  difference  in  pr*»gif?le 
between  a  university  system  of  education,  and  a  ui  cue 
school  system  of  education.  And  so  there  is.  You 
sic  wisdom  and  experience  tending  all  the  while  lo 
concentrate  the  State's  resources  for  the  higher  or 
University  Education,  but  to  scatter  its  resources  as  far 
as  practicable  (without  waste)  for  Elementary  Education. 
That  is:  put,  if  possible,  a  public  school  in  every 
neighborhood  in  the  State,  with  a  high  school,  or  even 
local  college,  in  the  principal  towns  and  cities:  this  is 
a  correct  public  School  system;  but  when  you  come  to 
a  system  of  university  education,  the  reverse  should  be 
your  rule  of  action.  Concentrate!  concentrate,  is  the 
true  principle  of  higher  University  Education ;  and  it 
is  an  axiom  now  among  all  able  educators  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe.  - 

Depart  from  this  law  and  you  must  pay  the  penalty 
of  having  a  weak,  inefficient  system  of  higher  Academ- 
ical Education.  In  the  United  State.-,  generally,  we 
havu  too  many  colleges  and  universities — say  400;  and 
the  result  is.  their  genera]  inefficiency — Louisiana,  even. 
having  <i\  or  eight"  and    all   together   would   not   make 


1.6 

om  good  uiiiv  arsity.  En  land  is  wiser;  with  all  her 
population  a*<  wealth,  slh  his  but  six  U  \  irsities;  mi 
imperial  h  qssia  has.bul  e  iili  . 

Tuis  State  of  Louisiana  cannot  properly  support  two 
State  'Academical  College  and  he  Academical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  in  New  Orleans, 

has  but  little  right  to  efcperl  a  re-chartering  (if. 
indeed,  it  has  now  a  legal  charter)  after  lying  actually 
dead  from  1860  to  1878,  eighteen  years  of  its  so-called 
(or  paper)  existence,  and  only  resurrected  last  \  car  by 
I  he  perversion  of  the  poll  tax  from  its  true  arid  legiti- 
mate application  to  the  free  public  schools,  the  Charity 
Hospital  and  "the  University  of  \k\v  ()  ;lk\\>  '"  (See 
consitution  of  1868.  articles  141  and  14i; 

The  old  "Uniyersity  of  Louisana.  "  of  I  he  con- 
stitutions of  18()4,  t852,  etc..  was  not  rechartef^d 
or  provided  for,  in  the  constitution  of  1868.  The 
"  Uniyersity  of  New  .  Orleans/'  as  contemplated  and 
provided  for  by  the  present  constitution  of  868,  has 
never  ;>een  chart*  'ed  and  established  by  the  Lc 
lature.  Therefore,  ;n  no  sense,  can  the  Academical 
Department  of  the  old  "  Qnriversj  y  of  Louisiana  "  be 
legally  and  properly  considered  to  >e  a  departmenl  of 
an  institution,  which  has  never  existed,  namely,  of 
"  the  University  of  hew  Orleans"  <i\\(\  whiel 
under  the  constitution  of  1868.  did  it  exist,  would  he 
entitled  to  a  portion  of  the  poll-ta: 

If  \a  ui.-:aiia    cou'd    afford    in    money    to  do   what   in 


other  State  in  the  Union  attempts  Iq  do — have  two 
Academical  Departiftents  of  Stair  Universities,  she  can- 
not  afford  il  in  sentiment — in  the  affection  and  love 
which  she  must  give  the  Iwn.  to  make  them  a  success. 
A  man  naighi  afford  in  money  to  have  two  wives,  but  in 
affection  and  lore,  and  in  the  well-being  of  his  family, 
he  could  not  afford  it.  Equally  Impolitic,  foolish  and 
mad.  would  il  he  for  Louisiana,  with  her  scanty  popula- 
tion, out  of  which  to  cultivate  a  strong  sentiment  or 
spirit  of  State  love  and  State  pride,  to  divide  her  affec- 
tions between  two  rival  State  Academical  Colleges.  No: 
we  can  now  have  one,  and  no  more;  and  let  us  not  he 
guilty  of  the  folly  of  attempting  to  have  two. 

Colleges  and  Universities  cannot  be  built  of  money 
alone,  of  brick  and  mortar,  nor  indeed  of  able  profes- 
sors simply.  A  college  is  a  family;  and  there  musl 
gather  around  it  .the  affections  of  its  children — of 
its  alumni ;  else  all  State  effort  is  in  vain. 

Take  away  from  the  great  schools  of  this  country — 
from  Harvard,  Yale.  Princeton,  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  sentiment,  the  spirit,  the  love,  the  affection  of 
their  students,  and  indirectly  through  them  the  respect 
and  veneration  of  the  general  public:  and  you  have  a 
body  without  a  son/ — the  form  and  paraphernalia  of  a 
college  without  its  animating  spirit.  No;  sentiment  is 
better  than  money  to  build  up  a  school,  a  church,  a 
family,  a  nation,  or  any  party  or  sect. 

What  Louisiana  stands  most  in  need  of  to-day  is.  not 


tl 

'••ve.  money  oven   I- pay  its  State  deBt;  ot  otHer 

demonl  of  material  prosperity;  bul  it  is  a  banding  to- 
gether of  her  people  into  one  brotherhood—  h  fusing  of 
us  all  in  spirit- -from  Arkansas  to  the  (hull  and  from 
Mississr  pi  to  Texas — into  one  mighty;  deep-  irresistible 
current  of  State  [>fide  and  Stale  love.  A  id  in  no  way 
ean  W(  bring  this  about  so  well  as  lo  have  a  proper 
system  of  public  education  :  1st.  Free  schools  that  shall 
reach  'very  child,  rich  or  poor,  in  the  State  :  and.  _M. 
A  Stale  University  that  shall  serve  as  a  groat  reservoir 
o(  thought  and  learning,  to  feed  the  numberless  public- 
schools  in  every  neighborhood,  in  every  parish,  and  that 
shall  gather  around  it,  and  centre  upon  it,  the  love  and 
affection,  and  prayers  of  every  man.  woman  and  child 
in  Louisiana. 

There  are  many  stars  in  the  heavens,  and  but  our 
sun.  So.  there  sliduld  he  many  scJiobld  in  Louisiana, 
but  all  to  receive  their  light  ami  vitality  from  one  L'ni- 
versih/.  Hither  let  thorn  come  and  leplenis  i  themselves, 
and  then  go  bac\  and  make  distribution  among  their 
pupils  and  ;he  people.     Let  it  be  so  that— 

•'  Hithe    as  to  their  fountains  other  stars 
Kepairin  ■;.  in  their  golden  urns,  draw  light." 

Th  ■  great  commentator  on  English  law  has  well  said 
that  •the    sciences    are   of  a   sociable   disposition,   and 
flourish  best  in  the  neighbdrhood  of  each  other.'"     It  is 
truly  a  misfortum  to  Louisiana    hat  all  the  departmen  M 
of  her  State  University   cannot    well  he  together,  at  U.V 


19 

same  I  x  at  ion.  Hul  the  reasons  for  their  s<  paration  are 
msupei  iblt  ;  no  one  1<  ality  ran  be  found  in  the  State 
whnv  ea/l     and    every     lepdrtment  would   best    'hrive. 

Nor  is  L  tuisiana  aloh<  .  ofthe  States,  in  this  particular, 
(jfeorgia  has  the  Acadei  i<  and  Law  Departments  other 
University  at  Athens,  ai  I  the  Medical  Department  down 
in  Augufcta.  rnion  I'm  Tsify  (fbrrtierty  Union  Col- 
lege) ai  Rchfclifcetady,  \e\  York,  ha-  its  Law  and  .Vedi- 
eal  Depar  metfts  at  Albany.  Keiitu  ky  University,  at 
Lexington  Tennessee  I  diversity,  a!  knoxville.  and 
California  University,  at  I  "rkrley.  have  their  Niedkb) 
Departmeh  ^Respectively  in  Louisville,  Nashville  and 
Sau    Kranei  <*o. 

No;  the  several  depart  ients  of  a  great  institution  of 
learning  cannot  always  be  together.  Desirable  as  it  is 
to  have  then,  associated  actually  together,  the  public 
interest  may  demand  that  they  be  separated — that  each 
be  located  wWere  it  may  do  nost  good.  Hut  let  no  State 
commit  the  fol'y  of  bavin-  a  double  set  6f  smdi  depart- 
ments, and,  above  all.  of  ftm.  or  more,  Academic  Depart- 
ments of  a  State  University 

Law  and  Medical  students  should  hav«'  had  a  good 
academical  raining,  and  that  th  y  should  recei  •  . 
together.  a1  the  same  Ac;  lennra  Institution,  at 
one  and  <  nly  one,  Academical  Department  of  the 
State  University,  Thus,  would  the  Law  ai  I  Med- 
ical students  in  Sew  Orl  ins  have  a  coumc  n  aim  a 
mab  r    in    the  country    an      Law    students  an  I    >!■ 


iiO 

cal  students,  and  Academic  students,  would  all  be 
inspired  with  a  common  love  for  the  State  University 
and  all  its  departments.  The  University,  however  sep- 
arated and  distant  its  several  departments,  would  thus 
he  one:  one  in  its  charter,  one  in  its  spirit,  and  one  in 
the  affections  of  the  people. 

Such  a  University.  Louisiana  ran  foster  and  make 
flourish:  hut  she  can  have  only  qne  such.  Aiid  mich 
a  University — the  middle-aged  and  the  old  looking  back 
at  it  with  pride  and  affection,  and  the  youth  of  the  land 
looking  forward  to  it  with  hope  and  ambition — will  do 
more  to  make  Louisiana  one  in  sentiment  and  sympathy, 
and  united  in  all  the  moral  elements  that  go  to  make  up 
a  great  and  glorious  people,  than  all  other  human 
agencies  combined. 

Nor  is  this  idea  of  making  the  State  University,  at 
Baton  Rouge,  the  literary  and  scientific  department  of 
I  lie  University  of  Louisiana,  or  of  combining  that 
institution  and  the  Law  and  Medical  Departments  in 
New  Orleans  under  one  charter  and  in  one  corporate 
name,  a  new  one.  As  far  back  as  1858,  you  will  find 
reference  made  to  it  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Education  to  the  Legislature,  with 
the  remark,  that  'he  understands  that  a  memorial  will 
be  presented  to  that  body,  praying  for  legislation  to 
that  effect.'  In  L866,  a  committee  of  the  Legislature 
confeiTeci  with  I  he  administrators,  and  other  officers,  of 
the  University  of  Louisiana  upon  the  subject.  Nothing 
further,  at  that  time,  was  done,  because  there  was  some 


21 

doubt  whether  it  was  then  constitutional  (o  make  such 
union.  So,  the  matter  rested  until  1878 — all  the  while, 
however,  from  1858,  or  before,  the  question  was  alive 
in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  ablest  and  best  men  in  the 
State,  hast  year  it  was  actively  revived;  and  the  lead 
then  taken  in  its  favor  by  those  who  are  now  its  chief, 
opponents,  the  Board  of  Administrators  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Louisiana,  in  New  Orleans. 

That  Board  of  Administrators  asked  the  Legislature 
to  pass  what  became  the  twenty-first  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  of  the  State,  by  which  the 
fusion — into  one  and  the  same  Institution — of  the  Law 
and  Medical  Departments  of  that  Institution,  in  New 
Orleans,  and  this  Academic  Institution  here,  in  Baton 
Rouge,  could  be  effected.  But  the  ink  was  hardly  dry 
on  that  paper  of  their  own  making — the  proposed  twenty- 
first  amendment,  before  that  Board,  in  the  absence  of 
some  of  its  ablest  and  best  members,  repudiated  their 
own  act,  and  set  to  work  to  defeat  the  twenty-first 
amendment  (which  they  themselves  had  asked  the 
Legislature  to  pass),  and  to  resurrect  their  Academ- 
ical Department,  after  it  had  lain  in  its  grave  eighteen 
years  ! 

This  they  were  enabled  to  do,  by  having  obtained 
through  the  forms  of  the  law,  yet  wrongfully  and  im- 
properly, twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  poll  tax  of  the 
Slate,  since  1868;  money  wrenched  alike,  by  the 
remorseless  tax-gatherer,  from  the  poor  man  in  the 
country  and  the  poor  man  in  the  city,  whose  own  chij 


to 

dren    arc    left    without    proper   schooling — to    educate 
rich  men's  sons  -in  New  Orleans. 

Should  your  honorahl  3  hody  not  appro\c  of  the 
views,  as  ahove  expressed,  and  re-charler  the  University 
of  Louisiana,  as  it  now  is.  let  us  all  cheerfully  acquiesce, 
and  hope  that  it  may  be  supported  as  liberally  as 
possible  from  the  treasury  of  the  State,  without  which 
aid  the  Academic  Department  will  but  surely  repeat  its 
former  history — dead  one  day  and  dying  the  next? 
Respectfully  submitted, 

DAVID  F.   BOYD. 
Baton  Rouge,  La.,  July  7,  1879. 


3  0112  105551953 


